孔子《论语》与口传文化传统

孔子被二千多年的文明史塑造为书写的圣人和教育家,他其实是保留在华夏书写文明中的口传文化最后的大圣人。《论语》绝非孔子“著作”,而是口头教学情境的活化石。“述而不作”的信条中蕴涵着异常深沉的口传文化价值观。孔子对音乐和诗歌的极度偏爱与推崇都体现着他与远古“圣”观念的契合之处。作为对话录的《论语》是口传文化的学习方略和“圣”的人格境界的最好见证。

The Dialects of Confucius and the Oral Tradition

The author maintains that Confucius, historically considered a sage and educator in the written Chinese culture, is the last of the great witnesses of an oral culture tradition, his Dialects, not of his own making, being the living fossil that carries evidences for this long-obsolete vein. His aversion to writing is indicative of his predilection for the values of this oral tradition, and his love for music and verse is equally indicative of the strong affinity he feels with the ancient concept of "the Sagacious".The paper concludes that the unique genre of the Dialects best manifests the learning tactics of the Chinese oral culture tradition and the zenith of the humanistic ideal of the ancients.